South Africa's tour of Sri Lanka: Five Sri Lanka players who can make an impact

Mahela Jayawardene

2. Mahela Jayawardene

Jayawardene stepped down from position of the captain of the team in spite of making it to the final in the 2011 World Cup, a match in which his fine century went in vain, but the team depends on him now more than ever.

His runs at the top-of-the-order have never been vital now that the team is going through a tough transition as new faces try to find their feet in the team. He might have to slip down the batting order in this series as both Tilakratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga will be available to open the batting.

He has three half-centuries and one century in his last seven innings which means that he is going through a purple patch , and he will hope to continue that through the series against South Africa.